


Whispers in the Night

by BardofHeartDive



Series: Tumblr Posts [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 18:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7856452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardofHeartDive/pseuds/BardofHeartDive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by <a href="http://sheploosbooty.tumblr.com/post/149383527869/mshenko-vent-doodle-u-cant-tell-but-shep-is">this beautiful art</a> by sheploosbooty on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whispers in the Night

He jolts awake with a start, still feeling the ash from the ruined forest crawling on his skin. He is shaking, sweating, panting, and he doesn’t want to wake the man beside him, so he slips out of their bed. Staggers, but silently, to bathroom. He turns on the shower but doesn’t get in. Instead he stands at the sink, head hung until he summons to strength to meet his own eyes. They are as blue as they have always been but something behind them is haunted now.

_“Does this unit have a soul?”_

_“Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”_

_“_ _Kalahira_ _,_ _mistress of inscrutable depths_ _, I ask forgiveness.”_

_“That won’t happen. Go get him, Commander. I’ll see you all when you get back.”_

Even waking he can hear them.

An acrid pressure builds in the back of his throat and he worries he’s going to be sick. He concedes defeat, running from the mirror as he has never run from a fight. He’s still shaking, bad enough that the two steps to the toilet are too much, and he slumps against the wall, running down into a pile on the floor. He finds relief against the cool tiles and presses into them, hoping they will leach out the voices as well as the nausea.

The bathroom door opens. He looks at Kaidan but sees two pairs of golden brown eyes. Hears countless voices when Kaidan quietly murmurs, _“Shepard.”_

And with a single choking sob, he comes undone.

All the honor and courage and duty evaporate and he is nothing more than a man who has made too many hard choices and lost too many friends. But Kaidan is there and he holds him until there are no more tears or whispers in the night.


End file.
